
Governments Tighten Digital Child Safety Rules as Platforms Deactivate Millions of Accounts
Indonesia, Australia, Brazil and the EU are advancing distinct regulatory and judicial frameworks to compel platforms to limit children’s exposure to harmful content and commercial exploitation.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital announced on 25 June that 200 digital platforms operating in the country, including Netflix, ChatGPT, PUBG, Shopee and Tokopedia, have submitted mandatory self-assessment reports on child safety risks under Government Regulation No. 17 of 2025. Minister Meutya Hafid stated that the government is now evaluating the filings to categorise each platform’s threat level and will publicly disclose the risk profiles once the review is complete. The regulation has already triggered enforcement actions: TikTok deactivated 4.1 million accounts belonging to children by June 2026, and YouTube removed 600,000 such accounts in May 2026, according to ministry data.
In Australia, a new phase of the online safety industry codes takes effect on 27 June, requiring search engines such as Google and Bing to implement age-sensitive safeguards or face fines of up to A$49.5 million per breach. The eSafety Commissioner’s office said the obligations are designed to prevent children’s accidental exposure to pornography and high-impact violence, with logged-in under-18 users blocked from seeing such material and logged-out users shown blurred images. The measure follows a social media ban for under-16s introduced last December and age-verification requirements for pornography sites from March. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has signalled the government will stress-test the social media ban to withstand legal challenges, after a study published in the British Medical Journal found that 85 per cent of Australian adolescents aged 12 to 15 were still using social media three months after the ban, two-thirds by misrepresenting their age.
Brazil’s National Justice Council (CNJ) approved a resolution this week that establishes uniform criteria for judges to authorise the participation of children and adolescents in monetised digital content. According to Safernet Brasil psychologist Bianca Orrico, the resolution requires courts to weigh factors such as publication frequency, commercial arrangements, impact on schooling and mental health, and safeguards for privacy and earnings. The Alana Institute’s digital rights coordinator, Maria Mello, described the measure as a significant step to prevent the commercial exploitation of child influencers, noting that platforms and advertisers now share responsibility alongside families. The resolution gives effect to the country’s Digital Child and Adolescent Statute, mandating individual judicial authorisation on a case-by-case basis.
Within the European Union, the European Parliament has urged the European Commission to use existing powers under the Digital Services Act (DSA) to set a minimum age of 16 for social media access, with MEPs describing the mental health impact on minors as a “pandemic”. The Commission, however, is awaiting recommendations from an expert panel appointed by President Ursula von der Leyen, due on 13 July, before deciding whether to propose additional legislation. While France and Spain have announced national restrictions, Brussels has reminded member states that only the EU can impose new obligations on platforms through the DSA. Some lawmakers, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spanish MEP Pablo Arias of the European People’s Party, have argued against a blanket age limit, favouring alternative safeguards and shared responsibility among platforms, families and educators.
The dossier is advancing on multiple tracks. Indonesia’s ministry has warned that platforms failing to submit compliance reports will face enforcement action. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner is preparing legal proceedings against several platforms for systemic non-compliance with the under-16 ban, while Reddit has launched a High Court challenge. The EU expert group’s recommendations in mid-July are expected to shape the Commission’s legislative calculus, and Brazil’s CNJ resolution will now guide lower courts in authorising child participation in digital content.
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Indonesia's new child protection regulation has prompted 200 digital platforms to submit self-assessments of their risk profiles, while 4.7 million underage accounts have been deactivated, mainly from TikTok and YouTube. Australia is also exploring ways to strengthen its social media ban for teenagers, with the prime minister emphasizing the need for legally robust enforcement.
Search engines must now deploy reasonable age-verification measures to prevent children from encountering harmful content, or face fines of up to $50 million per violation under Australia's new online safety codes. The rules, which follow a ban on under-16s from social media, represent a world-first regulatory push to hold tech giants accountable for child protection.
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